Sirius XM plans official rate hike for March 11th
By Darren Murph 
posted January 27th 2009 10:54PM
posted January 27th 2009 10:54PM
[Via The Wolf Web]
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posted January 27th 2009 10:54PM
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are you sirius?!
As sure as the taXMan...
I am fondly recalling all the discussions XM and Sirius had with the FCC to convince them that the merger was a good thing for consumers.
Now that I can get Slacker and Pandora on my iPhone I'm never looking back, and for free no less. I have it hooked up in my car and stream on the internet to my Airport Expresses at home and on my computer at the office.
Sirius/XM, you were nice when I needed you but now I can get truly personalized radio for free everywhere I want it so you are no longer needed.
Would someone PLEASE explain to me all of this “Last.FM, Pandora, Slacker” talk? Don’t you need internet connectivity all over to listen to that? And where is the imaginative ubiquitous internet network everyone is using? WiFi aint cutting it And don’t say cellular either since you either pay through the arse or are limited (even for “unlimited” data plans). And what about content beyond just music? I like Sports, Mad Dog, O&A, Bubba, Stern, Martha and Oprah (that’s right I said it, Oprah ;^). during my commute. Just sayin...
What about Lifetime subscribers?
Complete garbage. They are asking existing customers to bail them out, pay ahead and they might not make it, great. I'd be very cautious buying a life-time subscription. I do love the service and I was fooled into thinking the merger may help reduce cost. You'd think if they lowered the price they'd gain a greater proportion of returns.
I'd settle for CD quality satellite radio. Forget CD quality streams. There is so much compression going on in XM it is nearly worthless.
Totally agree. There was a big transition 2 or 3 years ago where the sound quality just went to crap. Pretty much stopped listening to music on sat rad after that. I kept it for the talk, which I don't listen to anymore because now I'm addicted to podcasts on my ipod. I'm about to cancel my service, after being one of the most hardcore XM fans a few years ago.
Yeah, so that merger was going to lower prices? Sure. Now that there's no competition in the satellite radio market this was bound to happen.
Any venture capitalists out there want to front the funds to get Digitally Imported Radio (digitallyimported.com, di.fm) broadcasted via satellite? That I'd pay for.
I hope you people realized that if these companies didn't merge they would be already out of business. The fact they they are still around after they merged is anything short of amazing.
It's a failed business model that can't support itself and actually has a stagnant customer base. If the only way you get new customers is by forcing them to have it for free, you won't survive.
Goodbye XM/Sirius, we won't miss you.
And I thought a monopoly on satellite radio was going to be a good thing
Once again big companies are allowed to merge into a monopoly and consumers lose: We get less and pay more. I won't be renewing my XM subscription.
If I stay there will be trouble; if I go there will be double.
So you are staying then?
So if we get grandfathered in, we get free internet streaming, all rates stay the same. But do we get stuck with the old quality or have to pay for the "near" CD quality?
we where all thinking the merger may help reduce cost hahah what a bunch of a**holes. way to pissed off the people that help you build membership, i will never tell anther friend about Sirius again. back to my Ipod.
I've been with xm for 5 years.Last year I cancelled and I am not going back.Free podcast rocks!
Ditto.
oh noes, thats my birthday.
That makes it your fault. Thanks!
Definitely your fault. This is exactly why I was born a month premature.
Nobody wants to pay more for it...but keep in mind in 5 years my XM rates NEVER went up. It's basically a $3 increase after 5 years...no other service I have has gone up that little. The company clearly needs cash and is doing what they need to do, I can't really hate on them.
If you're a legacy XM customer, call, get to their cancellation department, and tell them you're not willing to pay the new rates, so you've decided you want to cancel now. They should offer you a deal for $77/yr. If they don't, tell them a friend of yours has a deal for $77/yr and you feel you're paying too much. They should offer it to you. I've done this for 3 years with XM. It's about as much as I'm willing to pay for what has become worse and worse over time. This year will probably be my last as a subscriber.
You do realize that if you say that you've technically admitted that you were trying to defraud them.
Now, whether they call your bluff or not, I don't know.
What part of that is fraud? I have a friend that has that rate ... and if they don't offer it to me, I'll cancel. And for anyone that doesn't have a friend that has that rate .... Hi, I'm Dave. Nice to meet you.
Same here. $77 rate for the last three years...I think it's called the "Win Back" promotion. Each year I tell them I'll only renew at this price and they give it to me. Last renewal was pre-merger however. As soon as I have to pay $1 more I'll cancel and just use my iPod .
@ jupiterthunder
Might want to head over to the dictionary and look up fraud there sport.
What about those of us who have lifetime subscriptions?
* Current lifetime subscriptions will keep free online listening for this radio plan.
I love Sirius | XM Satellite Radio. I've been with them for about 2 years now and couldn't imagine my hour long commute without it.
I recently signed up for the XM + Best of Sirius, so now I get to enjoy all of my favorite programming PLUS Howard Stearn!
Long Live Sirius | XM!
But seriously, the prices could be lower... That wouldn't hurt too much, would it? At least I was able to lock in my account and still receive my online listening for the next 3 years! :D
I've been paying $77 a year for XM for the past so many years. Not really planning on paying more when it's time to renew so this could be the end.
had the service for 6 or so years... liked it when it was the best option. there are just too many other ways too listen to music for free. they ended up offering 6 months free on 2 radios... it was hard to turn down.
What's with that Sirius link not going to sirius.com? f.chtah.com? What the hell is that? Call me crazy, but stuff like this smacks like phishing to me. Why is it asking for an account # and phone #? On the XM link you just have to supply a username and password...
The form submits to www.cheetahmail.com. Looks like a marketing company sent the link out.
Hi Pete,
gman is correct. Experian CheetahMail is a reputable email marketing service provider, and we use the domain "f.chtah.com" for a number of clients, including XM/Sirius. I assure you that the data you submit is secure. If you would like further information, I'd refer you to www.cheetahmail.com or www.emailresponsibly.com.
Hope this helps! And for the record, I think it's worth keeping the streaming service! XM and Sirius are pretty sweet services.
-b
Last.fm FTW.
This is the last nail in the coffin for me. In a few months when I stop commuting 400 miles every other weekend, I'm out.
I'm stuck with them for a few years. We don't have anything worth listening too on the radio in Chicago. I have my iPOD hooked up but I haven't added anything to it for over a year.
I'm be staying with them (XM legacy). Been with them for almost 4 years now and have no radio worth listening to around here. Plus I travel a lot with my job and it's nice to listen to the same station over a 200 mile trip if I so choose. I didn't know about the $77 a year deal, I will sure mention it and try to get them to honor it. In March of 2007 I paid almost $300 for a 2 year subscription- came out to about $11.33 a month. I will gladly pay $77 per year!
Some of you are peculiar. No one is being told that they have to pay the additional. If you use the webstream, then i guess this should be a bit of a bother, but if you don't then the increase is moot. I do not use it because when I'm at my PC, there are more than enough alternatives with better interfaces and better sound. I''m passionate about my Sirius radio but about the only thing I tune to is Sirius 128 (NASCAR radio). I'll hit up comedy and music on occassion and sports if I can't get to a TV. All in the car. I don't have a radio in home because I don't have an exposure that's unobstructed so my in home signal is awful. Anyway, the programming that I listen to the most isn't available on the web stream so, no loss for me.
You had best go read the website. That little double star is noted like this at the bottom:
** Pricing applies to "Everything" and "Best of Packages".
So, you most likely have the XM Everything pack. Thus, you will get the fee. If you want to downgrade to the family pack or news pack or talk pack..no fee.
Sirius used to be worth the money. Since the merger the programming sucks.
My wife hates it now and so does my kid.
I was thinking of dropping the 3 units I have. Now I am sure of it.
I can podcast and have a much better time.
The new programmers can keep there 2 bucks a month.
What about those of us who paid upwards of $250 for Sirius Stillettos that advertised the ability to stream internet content without mentioning an additional fee? "Bait & switch" would be a good term to describe this POS. I wish they had some CLASS and took some proactive ACTION for customer service.
That's actually a really good point. I bet they'll offer customers a deal, get sued, or something.
AGREED:
last.fm FTW!!!!!
Sirius/XM is a dead man walking. Buh bye now.
I wonder if I can continue using those National exec elite coupons for free monthly subscriptions to the online service.
I hope that those in charge lose a lot of money when satellite radio fails.
One by one, they've abandoned every promise they ever made. Crappy sound quality, commercials, reduction in programming choices, censorship, sounds like FM... except you have to pay for it!
get iphone 3g... install the required apps for online radio. its free... and best way to at listening to online radio.
No surprise, once the competition was gone then the price increases begin...
Anyway it's offerings and particularly the coverage in the Bay Area on Sirius is just terrible !!!
Will not be renewing my contract...
Pandora and a few other apps on my iPhone have opened my eyes...